Morrissey Fox Blonde Ale
With all the TV and media hype surrounding this beer in the lead up to the TV show's launch last week, I jumped on the bandwagon to see what the fuss is all about.Morrissey Fox Blonde Ale (4.2% abv) is a bland and inoffensive pale bitter. Actually I use the term 'bitter' rather loosely! Its actually more like flat Carling with some citrus aroma hops, and then not many of those.
There was an article in one of the Sunday supplements that included a recipe for the beer which I have copied out below. From an initial look over the recipe, I would say that this beer will work out a lot more bitter than the bottled sample I picked up in Tesco and would probably make a nice beer.
I also wonder if the unpasteurized beer that they serve in their pub is substantially different to the bottled version. But then I assume the cask variety is served under a sparkler as well!
UPDATE 12/11/08
This thread is getting plenty of hits through the search engines. While I stand by my original opinions on the bottle I sourced from Tesco, I have a very different opinion on the Cask version. I think that the bottled product is a different beer to the cask version. I think the bottles are probably brewed under licence somewhere else (This was verified by the third episode in the series). I had a pint of this on Saturday night at The Pontifract Castle in W1, and from Cask it is a very different beer. It's has a cascade aroma and is deeply bitter for a blonde ale. Nothing like the bottled version. I would have the cask version again if I came across it. Apparently its a guest beer at Nicolsons pubs at the moment. Worth checking out.
MORRISSEY AND FOXY'S BLONDE ALE
Makes 40 pints
Ingredients
4 kg Golden Promise malt
Makes 40 pints
Ingredients
4 kg Golden Promise malt
260g light crystal malt
39g Styrian Golding hops
32g Fuggles hops
10g Irish moss
15g Cascade hops
1 packet fast-acting yeast
Method
Add 23 litres of water heated to 77 degrees centigrade to a mash tun (an insulated brewing container).
Allow temperature to drop to 72 degrees centigrade and add both malts. Stir to form a porridge. Keep temperature between 62 degrees centigrade and 69 degrees centigrade for 90 minutes (by placing the mash tun in a larger vessel topped up with boiling water).
Strain the liquid (called the wort) into a large pan slowly. If it's not clear, return to mash tun and repeat till clear liquid is produced.
Heat to a rolling boil. Add Styrian Golding hops, Fuggles hops and Irish moss. Boil for one hour.
Add Cascade hops and boil for 15 minutes. Cool quickly and transfer liquid only to the fermenting vessel.
Add the yeast, cover and place in a cool room for two days. Siphon off the clear liquid into another fermenting vessel, leaving any flotsam and jetsam.
Ferment for three or four days with an airtight lid. Siphon off clear beer and enjoy.
Labels: Ale, Blonde, Morrissey Fox, Tesco
posted by Tim at
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
7 Comments:
Tried a bottle for the first time last night, never again. It reminded me of a cheap Dutch/french lager that the supermarkets sell in boxes of twelve stubbie bottles, a box can probably be had for the price of one of the MF bottles, one of the more expensive beers in Tescos range.
I bought a bottle last week to see what all th efuss was about. What a waste of £1.89!It tasted bitter but that was where the similarity to beer ended. No flavour or body.
If you wanted a blonde beer then there are plenty of good examples already on the market that taste of something such as Erdinger.
You must be all beer snobs. For a FIRST attempt I thought it was pretty damn good . It was close recipe to Tim Taylor Landlord which is a pale ale.The price was probably pitched as a first batch with high overheads. I dont go to ASDA for the 3 for £4 beers.
I've just had one of these, must admit the comment on the bottle about a lager/ale hybrid put me off a bit. I don't touvh lager and appreciate Real Ale. but I'd say it was a fair effort. Very much like Timothy Taylor Landlord.
Still if you want a blonde beer/ale then Castle Rock's Harvest Pale is THE champion and unrivalled in my humble.
Not the nicest of bottle pale bitters I've tasted, to be honest, it was quite awful. I'll stick to Moorhouses Pride of Pendle real, ale.
Lets remember the bottled stuff is commercially made for MF at one of their local breweries so really they are only actually condoning (if that's the correct word) its sale the only way you are going to taste the real stuff made by the two guys is to get it from the cask brewed in the micro-brewery they have at their pub. of course depending on how busy they are with doing other things will also of course have a big influence on whether or not its one from a batch that they have mashed themselves.
I still think fair play to them however Its a dream of theirs and they are living it. I would gladly accept a guest invite from them to sample some of their own brew. So chaps if you get to read this, Emailing an invite to an ex pub Landlord is easy enough I await your word with great eagerness.
martyn email
m1dnvmartyn@aol.co.uk
Well, having just sampled the bottled version of this alleged blonde ale, I can only add to the chorus of disappointment. Body - absent; aroma - cheap lager; finish - thank God it did... I can't help thinking that if it wasn't for the celebrity association, this self-congratulatory beer would have hit the shelves and stayed there.
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